RESOLUTION A3-0062/93

Resolution on the outcome of the meetings of the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly in 1992 in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and Luxembourg

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the following resolutions adopted by the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly on 20 February 1992 at its meeting in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic):

-on conditions for implementing the structural adjustment policy under Lomé IV (ACP/EC 441/92/fin.),

-on Angola (ACP/EC 652/92/fin.),

-on Southern Africa (ACP/EC 650/92/fin.),

-on the situation in Mozambique (ACP/EC 619/92/fin.),

-on debt (ACP/EC 663/92/fin.),

-on the interconnections that link development, debt, poverty and disarmament (ACP/EC 587/92/fin.),

-on the crisis in Haiti (ACP/EC 664/92/fin.),

-on the implementation of the Lomé Convention in the Caribbean ACP States with reference to the specific problems and concerns of the region

(ACP/EC 647/92/fin.),

-on the situation in Rwanda (ACP/EC 601/92/fin.),

-on racism and racial discrimination (ACP/EC 660/92/fin.),

-on international cooperation for the protection and sustainable use of forests worldwide (ACP/EC 562/92/fin.),

-on the implications of the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development for the ACP-EEC States (ACP/EC 659/92/fin.),

-on demography and development (ACP/EC 656/92/fin.),

-on the need for the integration of natural resource management into economic and other planning and for a commitment at UNCED to equitable development within the earth's carrying capacity (ACP/EC 642/92/fin.),

-on the situation in East Timor (ACP/EC 655/92/fin.),

-on the situation in the Horn of Africa (ACP/EC 658/92/fin.),

-on developments in Zaire (ACP/EC 653/92 fin.),

-on the GATT negotiations (ACP/EC 661/92/fin.),

-on bananas and GATT (ACP/EC 633/92/fin.),

-on assistance to Somalian refugees and displaced persons

(ACP/EC 610/92/fin.),

-on Suriname (ACP/EC 662/92/fin.),

-on the situation in Somalia (ACP/EC 636/92/fin.),

-on the situation in Sudan (ACP/EC 654/92/fin.),

-on bananas (ACP/EC 592/92/fin.),

-on sugar (ACP/EC 608/92/fin.),

-on cocoa (ACP/EC 609/92/fin.),

-on food (ACP/EC 602/92/fin.),

-having regard to the following resolutions adopted by the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly on 1 October 1992 at its meeting in Luxembourg:

-on the economic and social implications of AIDS for the people living in the ACP countries (ACP/EC 684/92/fin.),

-on Haiti (ACP/EC 787/92/fin.),

-on the ongoing crisis in Bougainville (ACP/EC 719/92/fin.),

-on 1992, Indigenous Peoples and the Quincentenary (ACP/EC 721/92/fin.),

-on the development of the situation in Zaire (ACP/EC 778/92/fin.),

-on the process of democratization in Ethiopia (ACP/EC 752/92/fin.),

-on the implementation of the Lomé Convention and the specific problems of the East African region (as a follow-up to the corresponding resolution passed in Kampala, Uganda, in February 1991) (ACP/EC 754/92/fin.),

-on the situation in East Timor (ACP/EC 779/92/fin.),

-on regional cooperation (ACP/EC 766/92/fin.),

-on the moratorium on French nuclear testing (ACP/EC 716/92/fin.),

-on greenhouse effects (ACP/EC 717/92/fin.),

-on measures to be taken by donor countries to prevent the accumulation of obsolete pesticide stocks in developing countries (ACP/EC 722/92/fin.),

-on desertification (ACP/EC 734/92/fin.),

-on the results of the Rio Conference (ACP/EC 736/92/fin.),

-on the environment and development (ACP/EC 746/92/fin.),

-on the dumping of toxic, hazardous and radioactive waste in Somalia

(ACP/EC 753/92/fin.),

-on famine in Africa (ACP/EC 785/92/fin.),

-on emergency food aid to Kenya (ACP/EC 755/92/fin.),

-on sugar (ACP/EC 730/92/fin.),

-on ACP sugar (ACP/EC 742/92/fin.),

-on ACP bananas (ACP/EC 743/92/fin.),

-on cocoa (ACP/EC 744/92/fin.),

-on coffee (ACP/EC 745/92/fin.),

-on South Africa and southern Africa (ACP/EC 786/92/fin.),

-on Mozambique (ACP/EC 757/92/fin.)

-on Angola (ACP/EC 760/92/fin.),

-on Somalia (ACP/EC 780/92/fin.),

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Development and Cooperation (A3-0062/93),

A.having regard to the need for regular information on the activities of the Joint Assembly, so as to ensure the existence of a coherent development cooperation policy,

B.whereas, under the ACP-EEC Convention, the Joint Assembly is the independent parliamentary body responsible for promoting greater understanding between the peoples of the EC Member States and the peoples of the ACP States,

C.whereas the meetings in Santo Domingo and Luxembourg took place at a particularly propitious stage in the development of many ACP States towards democratic, pluralist political systems based on respect for human rights,

D.whereas these advances constitute a positive response to the resolution on democracy and development adopted by the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly in Amsterdam in September 1991, the Council resolution of 28 November 1991 on human rights, democracy and development cooperation policy, the final declaration of the Economic and Social Committee of 28 November 1992 on the process of democratization and the various resolutions on this matter by the European Parliament,

E.whereas the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly, through the activity of its Bureau, has specific responsibilities in relation to cases of alleged human rights violations in both ACP and EEC States,

1.Stresses that the Joint Assembly is the only multicontinental parliament in the world, capable of addressing the North/South issues affecting the ACP States, but that its potential is far from being fully exploited;

2.Regrets the fact that, after a lengthy debate, the Joint Assembly was unable to vote on the general report on 'Democracy, human rights and development in the ACP countries' at its meeting in Luxembourg;

3.Expresses the hope that the Joint Assembly will be able to continue its work so that the general report to be adopted at its next meeting in 1993, in Gaborone (Botswana), corresponds to the resolutions already adopted and referred to above;

4.Endorses the principle that progress in respect for human rights can and should be supported by positive actions and shares the Commission's view that the question should be the subject of constant and open dialogue;

5.Stresses that the concern of the Community and the ACP States to defend and promote individual and collective human rights must represent a first step towards joint consideration of a right to peaceful and democratic interference; considers that democratic countries, whether Community Member States or ACP States, should make every effort to undertake peaceful cooperation to develop democratic ideals and promote human rights beyond their frontiers;

6.Agrees that lasting democracy requires an acceptable minimum of economic and social wellbeing and considers that poverty must be dealt with by both economic and political means;

7.Fully supports the Joint Assembly in its efforts to contribute constructively to bringing about constitutional reform in South Africa, which will confirm the final abolition of apartheid and lead to the creation of new democratic institutions and free elections which, beyond their immediate significance to the people of South Africa, will allow greater progress to be made towards social and economic progress in the southern African region as a whole;

8.Agrees with the Joint Assembly that conventional structural adjustment policies are manifestly inadequate to cope with the problems faced by the ACP States and that what is required is a different type of adjustment, one that takes account of the social dimension;

9.Calls on the Commission to draw up proposals to improve the chapter on 'Structural Adjustment Support' in the Fourth Lomé Convention, with a view to the next renegotiation thereof, and asks to be notified of this in early 1994;

10.Welcomes the Community's commitment in the fight against AIDS and its decision to contribute at least ECU 50 m under Lomé IV for its AIDS control programme; also stresses that these funds must be additional to those already provided under the National Indicative Programmes and health programmes;

11.Agrees with the Joint Assembly that prevention, education and information are the best means to combat the spread of HIV;

12.Welcomes the achievements of the Bureau of the Joint Assembly in initiating mediation between the authorities of Niger and the Touareg community, in contributing to the release of political prisoners in Malawi and in continuing to contribute constructively to resolving the differences which persist between the European Community and Sudan, as a consequence of serious and persistent human rights abuse, and thanks the countries involved for their cooperation in this respect;

13.Recognizes and endorses the importance of the resolutions of the Joint Assembly referred to above and calls on the Commission to follow up the subjects raised, with a view to the evaluation, restructuring or reinforcement of cooperation in the areas concerned in the context of promotion of programmes and projects with financial and technical back-up;

14.Undertakes, when formulating its policies, to take account of the resolutions of the Joint Assembly and calls on its appropriate committees to take these resolutions into consideration when drawing up their reports and opinions;

15.Reaffirms, once again, that development cooperation should be included in a common foreign and security policy (CFSP) as the most appropriate framework for dealing with the problems of the ACP States, namely debt, structural adjustment, democratic reform, the state of the raw materials markets, the environment and sustainable development, without overlooking the grave problems of racism and xenophobia;

16.Stresses the importance of the missions carried out by the Joint Assembly in Haiti and Uganda; in particular recognizes the political and media significance of the attendance of and the speech made by Father Aristide at the Joint Assembly, which demonstrates the Assembly's political potential;

17.Stresses the importance of the economic and social partners in ACP-EC cooperation and calls for the promotion of dialogue and cooperation with them; calls for permanent ongoing contacts to be established between social operators and Parliament's committees;

18.Recognizes the political importance of the hearing on peace and development held in Luxembourg and stresses that one of the Joint Assembly's priority objectives should be the promotion of peace in ACP/EC relations; proposes that in future there should be a balance between the number of men and women invited to hearings;

19.Reaffirms, in accordance with Article 32 of the Lomé Convention and Article 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Joint Assembly, the political character of the Assembly and recalls that, as a parliamentary body, it must consist of Members of the European Parliament and democratically elected members of the parliaments of the ACP States, where they exist;

20.Welcomes the increasing number of ACP parliamentarians taking part in the meetings of the Joint Assembly; calls on the Commission and instructs the Co-Presidents, on the basis of dialogue with the ACP side, to ensure the removal of the technical, financial and political obstacles preventing the Joint Assembly from being composed solely of parliamentarians;

21.Deplores the absence of European Parliament members from meetings of the Joint Assembly and its working parties, and calls on the political group chairmen to ensure the full participation of European Parliament members in both debates and votes;

22.Believes that the Joint Assembly's role must be strengthened and that, if this is to be achieved, it must be given sufficient financial resources and the necessary administrative autonomy, in financial and political terms, to enable it to undertake its work and carry out its functions, subject to control by the Court of Auditors;

23.Believes that, to reduce the large number of individual resolutions put to the vote and to ensure that votes are well attended, the Joint Assembly's Rules of Procedure should be strictly applied and that votes on resolutions should be spread, as far as possible, throughout the meeting, always provided that texts are tabled sufficiently in advance and the deadline for tabling amendments is respected;

24.Considers that the meetings of the Bureau of the Joint Assembly should be held in the country which holds the rotating presidency of the ACP-EEC Council; considers, moreover, that it should be possible to hold the European meeting in any Community country and not only in the European Parliament's three normal places of work;

25.Believes that, using the d'Hondt system as a basis, appropriate representation should ensure that a proper balance is achieved when the various European chairmanships are allocated and the European rapporteurs and draftsmen appointed;

26.Emphasizes that the dates of the meetings of the Joint Assembly should not be determined by political factors which are not relevant to the interests of the Lomé Convention and the Joint Assembly;

27.Welcomes and encourages the Joint Assembly's initiative of organizing hearings on subjects having an international impact;

28.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Joint Assembly, the ACP-EEC Council of Ministers, the governments of the EC Member States, the governments and parliaments of the ACP States, the Council and the Commission.